Swedish rock band Ghost bringing full-scale performance to South Okanagan

From Vancouver to Penticton, the show you get with Ghost will be the same big performance no matter when and where you go see them.

“This tour that we’re doing now, I hold it very dearly, because we’re able to do the same production anywhere,” said Tobias Forge, the band’s frontman in the guise of Cardinal Copia. “That is very important to me, consistency. To be able to bring the same production to everyone, because, I’m frankly very annoyed over the years, having to sort of slaughter the show because you got into a smaller market. It’s always annoying, because you know that this market or that market may be smaller, or farther away, this doesn’t mean people like it less.”

The Ultimate Tour Named Death rides into Penticton on Sept. 21 and brings with it all of the sounds and theatricality the band is known for. The band’s music ranges from southern rock, Missionary Man, to pop rock, dance macabre and more grand, operatic pieces like Bible. At their core, Ghost is a rock band, with more interest in making good music than fitting any standard genre.

“Musically, I am trying to be more of a band like Queen, that writes songs. If you need a bit in the song that sounds like a rock and roll, bluesy moment, or you need a metal moment, or you need an opera moment, or you need a ballad, you write it,” said Forge. “I want good songs, that feel good, and doesn’t necessarily sound like a song we’ve had before.”

Ghost embarked on their A Pale Tour Named Death for the release of last year’s album Prequelle, and the Ultimate Tour kicked off with the release of a pair of new songs on Sept. 13. Those songs, Kiss the Go-Goat and Mary on a Cross, will be making their way into the set list for the night’s show alongside tracks from the bands’ previous albums.

The focus of Ghost’s live shows are always on the music. The lore that the band has built up through their other media productions won’t be absent from the show, but how much and what will be included in the performance is something the band hopes people will discover for themselves.

“I’d like to say you’ll just have to see it for yourself,” said Forge. “There’s a bit of difference between filmed and edited media, and what is, in the end, a rock and roll show. The songs are the narrative.”

With a broad sound that the band pulls on from their four albums, it’s hard to nail down their musical influences.

“I can’t point to a few specific ones. There’s a ton of rock and roll, from the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s I guess, to a certain degree. Anything between heaven and earth,” said Forge. “We are a rock band. But if you had to be more specific, looking historically at other bands, if you had to file Ghost under something it, would be shock rock. We have more in common with Alice Cooper, Kiss and David Bowie, and bands that are more theatrical. “

The Ultimate Tour Named Death opens in Penticton’s South Okanagan Events Centre on Sept. 21, and there are still seats available. Tickets for the show can be purchased at ValleyFirstTix.com.